Son of former heavyweight champ ready for his shot

Trey Lippe Morrison was born on Sept. 27, 1989 — about four months before his father, Tommy Morrison, began filming the movie that made him a star, “Rocky V.”

But “The Duke” could fight in real life — not just reel life — and he became even more famous for his boxing career, eventually winning the vacant WBO heavyweight title after beating George Foreman in 1993.

Yet Lippe Morrison paid almost no attention to his father’s career. Which makes you wonder why the soon-to-be-27-year-old set out on his own pugilistic path in 2014 — the year after his dad died.

Lippe Morrison, 11-0 (11 knockouts), from Grove, Okla., makes his national television debut when he meets Ed Latimore, 13-0 (11 KO’s), at Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Okla., in a heavyweight clash that opens a ShoBox: The New Generation quadrupleheader (8 p.m., Friday, Showtime).

“Honestly, football didn’t end for me the way I wanted it to end,” said the 6-foo-2, 225-pound Lippe Morrison, who was a defensive end at Central Arkansas for four seasons before getting kicked off as a senior. “I wasn’t ready to give up athletics. I thought, ‘What other sport could I do? Track? I’m not fast. Basketball? I’m too short and too white. Boxing? Well, knowing my dad did it, and that I like physical sports, maybe I’ll give boxing a try. And that’s where it started.”

Offspring of great fighters trying to be great themselves in the roughest of sports is nothing new. But Lippe Morrison is being trained at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif., by Hall-of-Famer Freddie Roach, who says the kid may not have dad’s experience. But he’s got the thing that made his dad exciting.

Power

“He inherited his father’s punch. He’s a big puncher,” Roach said. “He’s learned how to box and is getting better all the time. I like the way he’s progressing. He holds his own with some of the veteran guys here at the gym and is doing very well.”

It almost didn’t get that far. Boxing, Lippe Morrison found out very early, is different than football.

“I’ve always thought of myself as a tough guy. I don’t back down or cower down,” he said. “But, my very first sparring session, a guy punched me straight in the solar plexus and it put me down to my knee. I had never been put down like that. And it took a tremendous amount of pride from me. But it made me want to learn. It drove me more. I knew, since I didn’t have an amateur career, I had to learn fast. Because getting punched in the face ain’t fun.”

Lippe Morrison has recorded eight first-round knockouts, two second-round knockouts and one fourth-round KO since starting his career in February 2014. He wears the same red, white and blue trunks as his late father, with the words “TOMMY” emblazoned across the waistband. Style-wise, he fights like his dad - aggressive and gunning for the knockout.

The difference? Tommy was a left-hooker. Trey has a big right hand.

“My left hook isn’t as natural as his, but I think I’m getting it there,” Lippe Morrison said. “I’m a little bit more of a right-handed puncher. But my left hook, I’m pretty happy with it. My right hand got injured in my last fight, and for four months, I trained with Freddie with just my left hook. I’m looking forward to showcasing that on Friday.”

Lippe Morrison, who is guided by his dad’s former promoter Tony Holden, has fought all but one of his fights in Oklahoma; this is his 10th outing at Buffalo Run.

“It’s the biggest challenge I’ve had,” he said of the 6-foot-1, 220-pound “Black Magic” Latimore, of Pittsburgh. “He seems to be a straight-forward fighter - head moving real fast, getting inside a little bit - a little like my style. I think it’ll make for a real exciting fight. He seems to be an aggressive type of opponent.”

Unlike his dad, who died in 2013 reportedly from complications of his 1996 HIV diagnosis, Lippe Morrison said he has learned from his mistakes and plans to stay on the straight-and-narrow. Tommy Morrison suffered many trials outside of the ring, including multiple DWIs, weapons charges and a prison stint for assault.

But his son says getting kicked off the Central Arkansas football team is all the lesson he’ll need.

“I showed up to two meetings late, back-to-back, and that was the consequence,” he said. “It was totally my fault. That was one of the hardest things that has ever happened to me. Football got taken away. Learning about that on my own, and seeing what happened to my dad - that’s not going to happen again.”